Book of Iyov Commentary

Commentary On The Book Of Job

chanoch's Introduction

The Book of Job is the most difficult Book within the Books of the Torah to make sense of - to understand or to comprehend. This is because religion, as opposed to spirituality, being man made teaches morality. The basic morality taught in Judaism is Be Good - follow the Mitzvot and do the Mitzvot and your life will be pleasant - without chaos or at the least better than those who do not do the Mitzvot.

What makes the book of Job so difficult is that it is a story of a man who follows and does the Mitzvot yet receives the most devastating and unrelenting chaos starting with the destruction of his family and resources followed by a series of unrelenting illnesses. It actually appears that HaShem is capricious except Job is to be kept alive.

The attempts to answer the question Why Do Good People Suffer?

These answers run the full gamut through out the Centuries. Even the Book itself poses some answers. These will be discussed as they are presented within the book. Other answers are presented here although it is up to each person to determine the answer for themselves.

The Zohar provides an explanation to the question by positing that Job is a royal adviser to Pharaoh. As an adviser to Pharaoh Job told him to kill the newborn males of the Children of Israel to prevent the redeemer from achieving the goal of the redemption. Thus Job's suffering is balancing the suffering he caused to others especially the Children of Israel. This Zohar is within the Parasha Beshallach.

A Different Commentary

How should One read the book of Job?

The big picture of Job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in God's sight. He was leading a basically upright life. And there is a reality called Satan who challenges God that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. God gives Satan permission to attack Job, and he does so first through his family and possessions, and then through sickness.

chanoch adds: This discussion does not explain why HaShem draws Satan's attention to Job. The Zohar explanation above relates as a shepherd giving a scapegoat to the wolf while he moves the flock to safety.

Then there is Job's long illness, and his three friends come. At first they are quiet and offer some counsel, but then they begin to launch into an attack on Job that takes a true theology and distorts it all out of proportion.

Job has about 29 chapters of misapplied theology in the middle. It's very hard to navigate your way through those chapters and determine what is true and what is not, because these guys are mixing up truth and falsehood all over the place. I think you're supposed to get the big picture that God was not happy with these three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.

And when Elihu shows up, he, I believe, begins to set it right. Finally God speaks and he sets it completely right.

Then there is the last chapter that puts the closure on the whole thing. There it says that God brought all of this upon Job; and Job proves in the end to be a better man than these other men, even though Job himself sinned and had to repent in dust and ashes.

The lesson from the big book of Job is 1) that God is sovereign over all our suffering; 2) he permits Satan to come into our lives and do horrible things to us; 3) he means to prove our faith and purify our lives through it; 4) in the end he will make it good, either in this life or in the life to come; and 5) Satan does not have the last word in the lives of God's people.

chanoch adds: Ultimately suffering and Blessing come from the Boomerang Law of Cause and Effect not HaShem or Elohim. Treat both effects - suffering and Blessing with Joy and Happiness. Also do not test HaShem.

Anytime we think we can blame Satan for something that is happening, we must also reckon with the fact that God is permitting it, which is what Job remarkably does.

When Satan attacks Job's possessions, ruins them all, and then takes the lives of all ten of his children, we learn how terrible Satan can be. But Job says, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." And the writer says that Job did not sin in this statement. What we learn is that Satan can kill his kids, and yet Job can fall down, worship God, and say that God took his child. It's both/and not either/or.

Then Satan comes and strikes Job with a disease: boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. And his wife says, "Curse God and die." And even though it says explicitly that Satan did this, Job responds to his wife, "Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord and not receive evil?" And again the writer says that Job did not sin with his lips.

Some people say that Job was wrong to say these things. They think he shouldn't have attributed to God those boils or the death of his children. I respond that, no, Job did speak the truth. I know this because if you go to the very last verse (42:11) it says, "Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him."

Now that is the inspired writer talking, not Job in one of his funks. Therefore, it is really clear that Job was right to say, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away," and "Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord and not receive evil?" because the writer, at the end, says that he was comforted for all the calamity (evil) that the Lord had brought upon him.

So even though Satan is real and can do horrible things, he has to get permission. God is the governor of the universe. Satan does not have a parallel role to play with God. He has a subordinate role to play under God.

How important is it for us to note that Job's calamities had absolutely no connection with his character?

I dont' think that's exactly right to say. I think "absolutely" is an overstatement, because when you get to the end, it says,

Then Job answered the LORD and said:

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

‘Hear, and I will speak... (Job 42:1-4)

And then Job repents in dust and ashes, verse 6:

"Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

In other words, here's the way I would say it: He was called an upright and blameless man, and yet that doesn't mean that he was a sinlessly perfect man.

I picture Job as a beaker of water. Job had been so worked upon by the grace of God that his life was pure. You could see right through the water. People looked at him and they saw a pure man. But there was a sediment of self-reliance and pride at the bottom. It wasn't huge and it wasn't damning, but it was there.

When God shook Job, the sediment colored the water, and you find Job saying some terrible things about God in this book. God knew that it was there, and he knew that in shaking this godly, blameless man there would arise some imperfection into his life, and that it would need to be purged. So the last thing is, therefore, "I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

God is so pleased with Job that he makes the three friends go and ask Job to pray for them instead of them praying for themselves. God loves this man Job.

So, we may rephrase the question, "How important is it that we see that Job's suffering was not directly connected to any evil deed?" That is true.

We should be able to say to people, "I'm not looking for a specific sin in your life that God is punishing you for or chastising you for. God may be permitting this calamity to come into your life just to refine very beautiful faith. Your faith is like gold, but it does have straw in it, and God loves you so much that he is now going to burn out a little more straw."

Any suffering person I've ever talked to bears witness to the fact that they have seen more of God and have come to know and trust God more deeply than if their suffering hadn't come.

Azamra Commentary - JOB CHAPTER 1

The book of Job is unique in the entire Bible canon as being a complete work devoted to one question: Why do good people suffer? This question has proved to be a most difficult and, at times, insuperable challenge to many people's faith in the God of justice.

The identity of Job himself and that of the author of the book bearing his name are both obscure in the extreme. The Talmud in Bava Basra (15b) brings no fewer than eight different opinions as to the period of time in which Job lived: at the time of the Exodus / in the time of the spies / in the time of Ezra / in the days of the Judges / in the time of Ahasuerus / during the ascendancy of Sheba / during the ascendancy of the Chaldeans / in the time of Jacob. The same passage in the Talmud also brings another opinion - that Job never existed at all but is a purely allegorical figure. Perhaps this opinion comes to emphasize that it hardly matters when Job actually lived or, because in truth he is a universal figure and the lessons to be learned from his book apply in all ages.

They apply not only to the people of Israel , to whom most of the books of the Bible are primarily addressed, but to all humanity. Thus although, according to some of the rabbinic opinions cited in the Talmud, Job could have been an Israelite, the most widely accepted opinion is that he was a righteous gentile, and it is precisely this that gives the book its universality. Job's own testimony about his upright path (chapter 29) provides a shining ideal to which all mankind should aspire.

When Job's companions came to comfort him in his suffering, they argued that suffering is sent to man because of his sins and that Job could therefore not have been completely righteous. Yet Job himself was unwavering in his protestations of his own innocence, and most of the rabbis agreed that Job did not sin. It is his very innocence that makes him the exemplar of the suffering Tzaddik, whereas had he sinned, it would have detracted from his quest to unravel the mystery of why the righteous suffer.

Many of the rabbis were of the opinion that the book of Job was written prophetically by Moses.

chanoch adds: It is important to understand the messages being given within the Names used in the Book of Job. Job is spelled Iyov spelled in Hebrew איוב. In regular gematria and ordinal gematria the number value is both 19. In small gematria the value is 10. The number 10 relates to the number of the Sefirot. The number 19 connects to Chavah which translates "Mother of All Life". When permuted and parsed the translation can be "Island of 8" which represents a connection to the Sefirah Binah in the world of Akudim - dots. This is the world where there is no communication between the Sefirot and leads to the :vessel breaking". Another meaning is "and my father". All of these relate to the various explanations within the above commentaries.

The Ari - Rabbi Isaac Luria teaches that Job is a reincarnation of Terach - the father of Avraham.

In the Heat of the Day - the Ari on Parasha Vayera - Job and Terach included.

The above link has some information about the tikune - correction of Job - Iyov. It is recommended to read the first part of the essay.

V 1: "There was a man in the land of OOTZ ." The commentators associate this land with Aram Naharayim, where Nahor the brother of Abraham lived (Gen. 24:10) - Ootz was Nahor's firstborn (ibid. v 22). Targum on Lamentations 4:21 identifies "the land of OOTZ " with Armenia , stating that this was inhabited by Edomites. Ibn Ezra and Ramban (on Job 1:1) concur in identifying Ootz as a land inhabited by Edomites. Ramban suggests that Job was a descendant of Abraham through Esau and that he knew his Creator and served him through fulfilling all the MITZVOS dictated by human reason and commonsense, in particular the MITZVOS of the heart, the root of all of which is the fear of God. Ramban argues that Job's companions were also Edomites, and in his introduction to the book of Job he suggests that it is appropriate that the lengthy dialogs it contains about human suffering are attributed to the descendants of Esau, the archetype of the sword-wielding warrior, symbolizing the Accuser who brings punishment into the world.

"And this man was pure and righteous and he feared God and turned aside from evil." This description is to be taken at face value since these are not the words of Job himself but those of the author of the book.

chanoch adds: The word ootz has a gematria of 156. This is the same as the Name Joseph. Joseph, by controlling his sexual desires earned the appellation "HaTzadik" - The Righteous. In this first verse the descriptions do not use the word righteous yet get close to this description. Job is from the Family of Avraham which means he has the possibility of connecting to Chesed. Yet it is only a possibility. The Sages utilize a distinction between Jacob and Esau relating to the possibility to achieving tikune. This difference applies to Iyov relative to Avraham.

Vv 2ff: Job attained the very summit of material success, possessing abundant livestock - the main wealth in antiquity - as well as being blessed with seven sons and three daughters, who lived in the lap of luxury, feasting every single day.

chanoch adds: recognize the 10 Sefirot in the children of Job. One perception is the 3 daughter relate to the left column of Gevurah - Hod - Malchut. This makes the upper Triad all male. Another perception is the upper Triad consists of 2 males and 1 female. The 1 female would be Binah. The other 2 females would be Gevurah and Hod. The five males are Chesed Tiferet Netzach Yesod and Malchut. The question arises is what world has malchut being male - sharing? The answer can be the negative system, which has the Malchut wanting to share with the positive system to effect the agenda of the negative system.

For fear that his children may have become arrogant and denied God, Job regularly offered OLAH (whole burnt) offerings on their behalf. Verse 5 is adduced by the Talmud as proof that out of all the different kinds of Temple sacrifices, the OLAH offering specifically came to atone for untoward thoughts (Yerushalmi Yoma 42a).

V 3: The Number 7000 has 1 Verse in the Tanach with the same gematria. It is Genesis 34:24. Here is its English Translation: These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.

chanoch adds: The above verse is stating a method to create unity among people.

In Kabbalah a number in the thousands relates to the Sefirah Chochmah - Wisdom. A number in the hundreds relates to the Sefira Binah - Understanding. A number in the tens relates to Zeir Anpin - Small Face.

The number 7 relates to the seven lower Sefirot. Words that have gematria of 7 in the Tanach are translated as: "short" - "troop" - "fish" - "give" and a few other words.

The number 3000 has 4 verses in the Tanach with a gematria of 3000. The English translations are below:

Exodus 17:11 - And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

Numbers 33: - For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.

First Chronicles 9:16 - And Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites.

Ecclesiastes 3:10 - I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

All of the above seem to have negative impact on men. Please remember these are about cleansing.

The number 3 relates to the three columns of the Tree of Life. Words that have gematria of 3 in the Tanach are translated as: "come" - "father" and no other words.

There are many words with a gematria of 500. Some of these are "and my sanctuary" - "give" - "tarry" - "In my openness".

The number 5 has a few words in the Tanach. Among them are: "eminent" - "portion" - "in Aramaic - This".

The word east kedem has a gematria of 144. There is a relationship of the number 144 to the volume of a Se'ah. There are 144 eggs to a Se'ah and 40 Se'ah is the minimum size of a Mikvah.

V4 - How old are the children of Job? Are they children or old enough for their own families?

chanoch adds: Verse 5: According to the spiritual laws of reincarnation the children of Iyov are not yet grown since the tikune of the children also relates to the Tikune of the parents. Otherwise there is no reason for the Torah to tell us that Job was making rectification for his children. It is also important to realize that theses feasts happened every day and no where does the Torah say Iyov made any sacrifice except for Olah. Thus there was never any sacrifice made to Satan.

V 6: "And the day came when all the sons of God came to stand before HaShem." - "This whole matter could have been known only by way of prophecy" (Ramban ad loc.). The prophet who wrote the book of Job depicts the heavenly scene on "THE DAY" - "this was Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Judgment" (Rashi) - when all the angels gathered in the BEIS DIN SHEL MA'ALAH, the "heavenly court". Although God is perfect unity and encompasses and includes all His angels, they are depicted as being "separate" from Him and "standing before Him" because each of the different angels depicts a different aspect or quality.

".and the Satan too came in their midst." Again, God is perfect unity, but there is an aspect that comes to test and try men, and this aspect is embodied in the figure of the "Satan". The Hebrew word Satan relates to the word SITNAH (Gen. 26:21 and Ezra 4:6) meaning strife and accusation. Commenting on our verse, the sages of the Talmud stated that the Satan has three roles. (1) He is the Tempter or YETZER RA, man's evil inclination. (2) Having tempted man and caused him to stumble, he then stands up as the Accuser, pointing to man's sins and demanding retribution. (3) Having indicted man, he comes to punish him in his third role, as the Angel of Death (Bava Basra 16a).

chanoch adds: Verse 7: Does Satan have the obligation to report of a temptation that is resisted?

Vv 8-9: God Himself attests that in spite of Job's outstanding material success, he had not sinned in the way that so many of the wealthy and powerful sin, with arrogance and the denial of God. Yet the Satan argues that Job's righteousness had not yet been genuinely tested since he had been insulated from poverty and other harsh aspects of life.

Vv 11ff: The Satan demands that Job be tested to see if he will not blaspheme when he has a taste of suffering. God gives Satan authority to destroy Job's wealth and kill all his children - yet even in the face of these terrible calamities, Job does not complain that God has been unjust. Instead he stoically states in his immortal words: "Naked I came forth from my mother's belly and naked shall I return there. HaShem gave and HaShem took away - let the name of HaShem be blessed (v 21).

chanoch adds: Satan does not bring the the fact that Job never gave a share of his income to Satan only to HaShem. Only as an Oleh - elevation offering.

chanoch adds : Verse 13: Why do we need to know that the calamities happen on a day the children of Iyov are feasting and why is it important to know it is the house of the first born? Does this imply that the children have now reach adulthood? Or did Iyov give his children their own homes so he did not have to witness the frivolities of children and thus discipline them?

chanoch adds: Verse 13 to 19: Notice the step by step notification of the various aspects of destruction of the children and assets of Iyov. Why does the Torah add these extra words and verses? It could be said in one verse indicating multiple messengers and multiple items destroyed.

chanoch adds: Verses 20 - 22: In Verse 21 - the English translation ends "Blessed be the Name of the Lord". A more literal translation would be "there is the Name of the Lord - from Blessing". Verse 22: There is the assertion that Iyov was without sin; yet we do not know who is making this assertion.

CHAPTER 2

"Health, children and livelihood are not dependent on merit but upon MAZAL" (='fortune'?)" (Mo'ed Katan 28a). So far the Satan had struck at two of the three fundamental pillars of Job's life - his livelihood (wealth) and children. But even this was not enough of a test.

chanoch adds: Verse 1: The Torah uses similar language in this verse and also in Verse 2 that implies that this day is also Rosh HaShana. Is it the second day of Rosh Hashana? or another year?

V 4: "Skin covers skin." If a person sees a blow coming to the skin of his face, he instinctively raises his hand to protect himself, preferring to suffer the blow on the skin of his hand in order to protect his head (see Rashi and Metzudas David on this verse). The Satan argues that Job had been content to suffer the loss of his wealth and children in order to protect himself from the loss of his life, but claims that as soon as the blow will come to Job's very skin and bones, he will break down and curse God because of his suffering. God now authorizes the Satan to submit Job to the worst of all tests, physical illness and pain, as long as he does not actually kill him.

chanoch adds: Do we learn here that someone can loose property and children yet it takes a separate judgement to employ illness as a wake up call?

Job's wife sees his terrible suffering and asks him what point there is in continuing to serve God now that he has lost everything: he might as well curse his bad fortune and die since he has nothing to live for. Job answers her with another immortal line (v 11): "Shall we accept the good from God but not accept the bad?"

In verse 11 our text testifies that even in the face of this terrible physical suffering, Job did not sin with his lips. The Talmud infers that "with his lips he did not sin, but he sinned in his heart! What did he say? 'The earth is given into the hand of the wicked, He covers the face of its judges' (Job 9:24)" (Bava Basra 16a). This implies that in his heart Job wondered if there is really a God. Since most of us have such thoughts at one time or another, it is somewhat comforting that even the righteous Job could not avoid them. Had he never had any doubts at all, he would have been a plastic Tzaddik. The fact that he did have them makes him all the more real.

V 11: "And three friends of Job heard." Given that they all lived at great distances from one another in the days before emails, phones and faxes, how did they know that their friend was in trouble? "Some say that they each had a crown on which were modeled the faces of each one of them, and when suffering befell one of them, his face changed. Others say that they each had a tree and because it withered, they knew" (Bava Basra 16b).

When Job's friends arrived they could not even recognize him because of his abject suffering. Nobody could bring himself to speak for seven days until at last Job opened his mouth and "cursed his day", as we will see in the following chapter. From the description of how Job's friends sat down on the ground to empathize with him and did not speak until he spoke first, the rabbis learned several important laws of conduct for those coming to comfort mourners (Moed Katan 18a).

chanoch adds: It is said that the death of children is the worst pain. So why is illness the last of the 3 pillars inflicted on Iyov?

chanoch adds: Verse 11: The Names and countries of the 3 friends are important to analyze to learn what we can learn. we will bring these analyzes in the appropriate locations.

JOB CHAPTER 3

STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK OF JOB

Chapter 3 consists of Job's opening speech wishing that he had never been born rather than having to suffer in life, apparently for no just or intelligible reason. In chapters 4-5, Eliphaz HaTeimni, the leader of the three companions, answers Job, after which the latter speaks again in chapters 6-7. Job is then answered in chapter 8 by the second of his three companions, Bildad HaShoohi, and Job answers back in chapters 9-10. Next, in chapter 11, the third companion, Tzophar HaNaamasi, answers Job, who replies in chapters 12-14.

The cycle repeats itself in exactly the same way in chapters 15-21, where the three companions successively answer Job, who answers them back after each of their speeches. There is then a third cycle of speeches in chapters 22-31, in which Eliphaz and Bildad (but not Tzophar) again address and are answered by Job. Job's answer to Bildad is contained in chapters 26-31, in which Job gives a lengthy defense of himself, finally silencing his three companions, who despair of persuading him to change his view of his situation in any way.

A new interlocutor - Eli-hoo ben Barach-el - then enters and embarks on a lengthy address to Job in chapters 32-37. After this, God Himself addresses Job in chapters 38-41 in what is surely one of the most beautiful passages in all of Biblical literature. Finally, in chapter 42, God "adjudicates" in the debate between Job and his companions, and at last restores the chastened Job to a life of prosperity, well being and honor.

Chapter 3 vv 1-2: "And Job spoke and said, Oh that the day on which I was born had perished."

chanoch adds: Verse 1 is a desription not a quote. The second word cain translates as yes in modern Hebrew . It can be translated as the manifestation of falling. Thus the fall is a better translation than "this". This is my opinion.

An invaluable insight into Job's stance is provided by the outstanding Talmudic scholar and Biblical commentator RaMBaN (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, or Nachmanides 1197-c.1270) in his comment on how Job "cursed his day": "We find the prophets cursing in this way, for Jeremiah also said 'cursed be the day on which I was born' (Jer. 20:14) but in Job's case the intention was bad and his companions understood what he was thinking from what he said. When Job saw the many terrible troubles and evil that came upon him - and he himself knew his own righteousness - he thought that perhaps God is neither aware of nor makes a reckoning of men's deeds and that there is no watchful providence over them. He started by saying that it is the influence of the planets and stars on the day and hour of people's birth that determine the good and evil that will befall them. He inclined to the view of the astrologers and therefore opened by cursing the day on which he was born, thinking that this was what caused him this evil. He argued that because of man's inferiority and God's exaltedness, He pays him no attention. Thus man is under the rule of chance according to what the stars determine and how they rule on earth. Thus Job believed that the same applies to man as we believe applies to animals - that there is no supreme guardianship over them except to keep their species in existence, but that no individual member of the species receives either punishment or reward. In the case of animals we do not say they sinned when they get slaughtered or that they must have been meritorious if they have a long life, and we see that their livelihood is available in plenty [and not governed by a higher Providence ]. This is his meaning in this first speech" (Ramban on Job 3:2).

The Biblical commentator Metzudas David, who provides a brief summary after each of the speeches of Job and his companions, takes a line similar to that of Ramban in his summary of Job's opening speech: "Job was perplexed and fell into doubt, thinking that everything that happens to man is determined by the heavenly order of the stars and planets in accordance with the way they rule at the moment of conception and birth. This is why Job cursed his day of birth and the night when he was conceived. He also complains against God, who laid down this governmental order, asking why He did not so arrange things that someone who was born under the order that ruled when he was born should not die either in his mother's womb or at the moment of birth so as not to suffer such evil, for it would be better for him to die" (Metzudas David on Job 3:25).

From the fact that Job curses the DAY on which he was born but the NIGHT on which he was conceived, the Rabbis learned that it is not fitting for man and wife to come together by day (Niddah 16b).

Verses 1-8 elaborate on Job's curse of his day of birth and night of conception, while in verses 9ff he explains WHY he was cursing them - because it would have been better for him to have died in the womb or immediately after being born rather than having to endure his present suffering. In verses 12-18 Job explains that death would have been better because - according to his understanding - death is a "sleep" and a "rest" (v 12). In verses 12-18 Job expresses how death is the great equalizer, because death comes to all, great and small.

chanoch adds: In verses 3 to 8 Job begins to curse the day of his birth and the night of his conception. This brings up the question why not celebrate the day of conception rather than the day of birth? The usual answer is that one does not know this date and time with any certainty. In my experience the women do know this date, although not the time. They just do not discuss this with the child nor with many others. Is the conception the Keter of the child? Or is the birth the Keter of the child? Kabbalah teaches the conception is the Keter of the body while the birth is the Keter of the body soul combination. This is due to the soul can be exchanged up to the moment of birth.

In Verses 9 - 18 Job asks why was i born? Yet also, more importantly why was i born to a life of suffering and pain when others appear not to suffer? The operative words are appear to not suffer. As with all nforms of jealousy one must desire the whole vessel - the whole person.

In verses 19-25 Job asks why God gives life to those who are suffering when in fact they are longing to die.

V 24: "For the thing that I had feared has come upon me." We are all uncomfortably aware that but for the grace of God, we could also be in the same terrible position as Job, and indeed many of those suffering from illness and other troubles and afflictions are only too familiar with Job's frustration at having been born and his longing to die.

CHAPTER 4

Eliphaz of Teiman's reply to Job is contained in chapters 4 and 5.

Rashi (on Job 4:1) states that Eliphaz is identical with Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau (Genesis 36:4) and that because he was raised on Isaac's lap he merited that the Shechinah rested upon him. Rashi states that Teiman (=Yemen/Aden) was part of the land belonging to Esau.

chanoch adds: As said above - Eliphaz HaTeimni, is considered the leader of the three companions. Verse 1 is the first time we are introduced to Eliphaz Eliphaz the Temanite. A Name in the Bible is more than a Name. Let us begin to understand this Name. Eliphaz parses into Eli = My God and Phaz - gold. On its surface the inner essence of Eliphaz is an idol worshipper worshipping money. On an even deeper level gold is an indication of a connection to the left column. The Temanite is a connection to a descendant of a grandson of Esau named Teman. From google: Means "right hand" or "south" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a grandson of Esau for whom the town of Teman in Edom was named. When permutated Temanite can be translatede as Tam = complete or whole 70. This confirms the idea that all 70 Nations are idol worshipping nations. Remember every aspect of the Torah including the Tanach applies to each and every person in every generation.

Vv 2-6: Eliphaz chastises Job for complaining against God's government of the world. Job had chastised others and given them support in their suffering, but now that his turn came to suffer he was already "exhausted" and unable to come to terms with it and accept that it was just. In verse 6 Eliphaz says that this showed retroactively that the "fear" of God Job had displayed in better times was not based on pure love but rather on the expectation of reward.

chanoch adds: Even appreciation of HaShem can come with an expectation that the goodness will continue, especially unabated.

Vv 7-11: Eliphaz argues that calamity and suffering come upon men because of their sins and evil.

V 12: "Now a word came stealthily to me." Having chastised Job for complaining about his suffering, Eliphaz now states that on Job's account a prophecy has been sent to him. Verses 12-16 evoke the way in which he experienced the prophecy. Rashi (on v 12) comments that the prophecy came in this stolen manner "because holy spirit is not revealed to the prophets of the heathens in a manifest way [as in the case of the prophets of Israel , who say, "Thus said HaShem."]. This can be compared to the case of a king who has a wife and a concubine. When he comes into his wife he comes openly, but when he comes into his concubine he does so secretly and with stealth. This is how the Holy One blessed be He comes to the prophets of the heathens. 'And God came to Avimelech in a dream of the night' (Gen. 20:3), and this was how He came to Laban (Gen. 31:24). Likewise Bilaam was 'fallen and with open eyes' (Numbers 24:4). But in the case of he prophets of Israel , it is written: 'Mouth to mouth shall I speak in him, in a vision and not in riddles' (Numbers 12:5).

Verses 17-24 express the content of Eliphaz's prophetic message for Job. This is that it is not possible that man could be more pure and righteous than God who made him. It is inconceivable that a fully-rounded and mature man who had to establish some system for governing people would arrange things such that good and bad people would be treated in one and the same way. If so, how could anyone imagine that God would have given over everything into the hands of the heavenly order of stars and planets - for in that case the righteous and the wicked would be treated in exactly the same way, and then man (who would not arrange things in such a way) would be more righteous than God (see Metzudas David on Job 4:17).

chanoch adds: Eliphaz is an excellent personality to feed people a perception that proves false, since everything is relative, even astrological influences. It is true every thing that happens to a person happens due to their actions. The purpose of astrological influence is to bring people together in situations that require an opportunity to complete a tikune.

JOB CHAPTER 5

Job Chapter 5 is the continuation of the speech of Eliphaz which began in the previous chapter. In the Massoretic Hebrew text there is no break of any kind between the two chapters.

chanoch adds: This means there is no space for HaShem and indicates the prophecy is false. Yet all lie has an element of truth. This is true for dreams as well and is the first step of dream interpretation. Learn this well and do not forget.

The previous chapter had ended with the prophetic message that Eliphaz had received for Job - that man is not more righteous than God and that His order of government must be just. Rashi (on Job 5:1) explains that Eliphaz' prophecy ended at the end of the previous chapter and now he returns to his rebuke.

Ch 5 V 1: "Call now - is there anyone that will answer you?" - Metzudas David explains that Eliphaz is rebuking Job, saying that he has become a disgrace in God's eyes for kicking in protest against his suffering, so that now neither God nor any interceding angel ("the holy ones") will answer him. V 2: "For anger kills the foolish man." - "For the anger of a fool like you kills him, because if you had kept silent God's attribute of compassion might have restored to you" (Rashi). When we become angry in the face of suffering, we make it impossible for ourselves to come to terms with it, and our life is simply consumed through our own folly. Vv 3-5: Eliphaz returns to his theme that Job must have sinned, because wickedness may succeed temporarily but cannot endure forever. Eventually someone who oppressed and exploited others is punished by having his children become helpless orphans while his illicitly acquired wealth is returned to the poor from whom it was taken. V 6: "For affliction does not come out of the dust." - "A blow that comes to a man does not come for nothing and does not simply spring out of the dust" (Rashi). V 7: "For man is born to trouble" - "for it is not possible that he will not sin and as a result receive trouble in order to receive his punishment. Man is not like the 'sparks that fly upwards' - these are the angels and spirits, who fly upwards and are not from the lower realms such that the Satan and the evil inclination could rule over them" (Rashi). Ramban (on vv 7-8) writes that the two verses are connected together: Man is born to a life of exertion and anger and he cannot be saved from this, because God Himself brings this upon him just as He has made it the nature of the 'sparks' to fly upwards. "But I would seek to God." (v 8): It is impossible to ascribe this governmental system to any planet or constellation but only to HaShem alone, for He deals with men's sins justly. In vv 9ff Eliphaz begins recounting the praises of God, who governs even the rains with Providence . V 10 is cited in Taanis 10a as proof that God Himself sends the rains in the Land, i.e. of Israel , while the HOUTZOS, the outside lands, are sent rains through His agents. These are aspects of His Providence. God lowers and raises up, frustrating the thoughts of the crafty (v 12) who wrongly believe that they can succeed in their devices. But God knows that the frustration of their plans and the suffering He sends them is for their own ultimate good (Ramban). V 16: "So the poor person has hope and iniquity stops up her mouth" - everything works out justly in the end. V 17: The moral of Eliphaz' entire speech is that if a person suffers, it is for his own good, and he must not reject God's rebuke. It is God alone who sends suffering (v 18) and He too has the power to heal, saving the person from many evils. The seven evils from which He saves are: hunger, war, slander, robbers, famine causing unaffordable prices, wild animals and stumbling blocks (Metzudas). Vv 24ff: If only Job will accept his suffering with patience and humility, Eliphaz promises him that all will be well, his offspring will multiply and flourish and he will die satisfied. Metzudas David summarizes Eliphaz' answer to Job as follows: "Eliphaz asserts definitively that everything comes through Providence , bringing proof from the way the wicked fall and cannot rise up, whereas the righteous are not destroyed in this way. Eliphaz refutes Job's view that everything is entrusted to the mechanistic order of the stars and planets and that the righteous and wicked both suffer one and the same fate. If a human were to devise such a system it would be considered to be abominable even though man is imperfect and cannot even be compared to the angels let alone to the Holy One. It is inconceivable that there could be any injustice in God's way of governing the world. If there are things that seem to come in an arbitrary way as a result of the mechanistic order of the heavens, the truth is that everything comes about through Providence and it is only because of the limitations of human understanding that we are unable to know their real meaning. As we follow the successive arguments and counter-arguments of Job and his companions, it will be wise to bear in mind that we are not expected to determine which side is right and which is wrong. The purpose of the complex weave of arguments and counter-arguments in this sacred text is to explore and help us understand the many different and often contradictory aspects of the profoundly difficult question of why people suffer. CHAPTER 6 Job's reply to Eliphaz begins in chapter 6 and continues to the end of chapter 7. Eliphaz had criticized Job's fool's anger (5:2). Now Job answers that his pain and anger simply cannot be measured and this is why he has been driven to distraction (ch 6 vv 2-3) because of God's terrible chastisement. V 5: "Does the wild ass bray when he has grass.? - "Am I crying out for nothing? Even a foolish animal doesn't bray when it has food" (Rashi). V 6: "Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt." - "Do you really believe that Eliphaz' arguments can be accepted when they contain no substance?" (Rashi). V 7: According to the commentators (Rashi, Metzudas), Job expresses now the disgust of his soul at his repulsive affliction of boils. Vv 8f: This is why he begs and hopes for death, and he is not afraid of this because he knows that he has not denied the words of the Holy One - he has not committed any sin. V 11ff: "What is my strength that I should hope?" Eliphaz had advised Job that if he would only accept his suffering stoically all would be well in the end, but Job (who was actually going through the suffering rather than merely observing it from the outside like his companions) explains that he has no strength to wait for the end because the suffering is so intolerable. Vv 15-21: Job feels betrayed by his friends, comparing them to a river that flows abundantly when the snows melt but which disappears in the heat of summer precisely when people need it, causing them only disappointment. Vv 22-23: Job tells his companions that he has not asked them for any gift of money, or to do anything themselves to save him from his adversary. V 24: All he is asking them is to teach and show him the meaning of his suffering. Vv 25f: What are all their words of reproof worth if they cannot show him this? Vv 28: Job pleads with his companions to hear him out carefully and see his innocence. JOB CHAPTER 7 Chapter 7 continues Job's reply to Eliphaz, which started at the beginning of Chapter 6. At the end of Chapter 6 Job had protested his innocence of any sin that could be accounted as the cause of his suffering, asking his companions to examine carefully and see that he had committed no wrong. Now in Chapter 7 Job counters Eliphaz' argument that if he would only submit to his suffering and accept its purgative power, God would in the end "settle" with him, protect him from trouble and evil and show him goodness. Vv 1-2: "Is there not a limit to man's service on earth." Man's life has an end: he is like a hired laborer whose contract is for a limited period and who longs for it to come to an end. Job is unable to wait for the good end promised by Eliphaz because his suffering is so great that his only hope is to die. In vv 3-4 Job depicts the terrible suffering caused by his illness. His pain keeps him awake all night hoping for relief in the morning, and when the relief does not come he tosses and turns on his bed all day hoping for relief in the evening. In v 5 Job depicts the horrible effects of the boils with which he is afflicted, which are full of maggots, while his skin is cracked and disintegrating. Vv 6-10: Job feels that his life is "slipping through his fingers" at a rate faster than that of the weaver's shuttle, and there is therefore no hope of a better future. Vv 7-9: "My eye shall no more see good. As a cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave shall come up no more." From here the Rabbis learned that Job denied in the resurrection of the dead (Rashi & Metzudas David ad loc.; Bava Basra 16a). If death is but a sleep (Job 3:12) and there is no afterlife, what hope is there of a better future for Job if his life in this world is slipping away consumed by his suffering? V 11: "I ALSO shall not restrain my mouth." Job is saying that if God will not leave him alone and refrain from hurting him, he too will not restrain himself from crying out over His way of dealing with him. If he complains, it is because of the terrible bitterness of his soul. V 12: "Am I a sea or a sea monster that You set a watch against me?" The sea is limited by the shore, and the sea monster cannot move beyond the depths of the sea. Similarly Job feels God has set a watch against him from which he cannot escape, because of the Satan, who has been charged to ensure that despite his suffering the soul will not go out of him, so that there is no refuge for him in death (see Rashi). Vv 13-16: Job is sick of this life of suffering, in which he finds no relief or comfort but only anguish. He would much prefer to die. Vv 17-18: Job now challenges Eliphaz' argument that everything is under God's Providence, asking how it could be fitting that God would constantly watch over man and pay attention to his deeds when man is so lowly and despicable. V 18: "That You should remember him every morning and try him at every moment." From this verse the Rabbis learned that man is judged every day and at every moment (Rosh HaShanah 16a). V 19 is the desperate cry of the suffering invalid: How long before You will leave me alone? You do not even give me a moment to swallow! Vv 20-21: Job now asks how it could affect or harm God even if he had sinned. If God knew from the very outset of Job's creation that this is how it would be, why did He create him simply in order to take vengeance from him like the target of an arrow? Why can He not simply take away his sin since his life will soon be over? CHAPTER 8 The second of Job's three companions, Bildad HaShoohi, now makes his contribution to the first cycle of arguments and counterarguments, answering Job by asking how it could be possible that God would corrupt justice (v 3). V 4: If Job's children died, this must have been because of their sinful life of constant banqueting (Metzudas David). Vv 5-7: If, as Job claims, he is innocent, then God will surely "settle" with him in the end so that although he is suffering now, he will enjoy relief later on. Vv 8-10: Bildad adduces the wisdom handed down from the earliest generations based on their experience and investigations. Vv 11ff: Bildad explains this received wisdom through the metaphor of the reed grass and rushes, which expresses the evanescence of the success of the wicked. As long as the reeds and rushes have an abundant supply of water they flourish, but as soon as the water disappears they dry up and wither. Similarly the wicked flourish as long as the hour "laughs" at them, but as soon as their measure is complete, the success in which they trusted turns out to be as flimsy as a spider's web. There is a difference in the way vv 16-19 are explained by Rashi and Ramban on the one hand as opposed to the way they are explained by Metzudas David on the other. Rashi and Ramban explain vv 16-19 as a continuation of the metaphor of the reed grass and rushes. No matter how extensively their roots may spread, as soon as they are consumed they disappear for ever and it is as if they had never been in the place where they grew. However according to Metzudas David's interpretation, vv 16-19 contain a second metaphor expressing how the righteous endure and are regenerated, as opposed to the wicked who were compared to the reed grass that quickly dries up and disappears. Thus Metzudas David interprets v 16 as referring to a mighty tree that remains moist even when it stands in the sun, and its branches spread over the whole garden where it is planted. Its extensive roots reach down to deep deposits of water. Metzudas David explains vv 17-18 as saying that such a tree is so strong that even if it is transplanted so that it is as if it never existed in its first place, even so, it has the power to regenerate itself and grow even better in the new place to which it is transplanted. According to Metzudas David, the metaphor comes to teach that even the trouble that strikes the righteous, who are compared to a mighty tree with extensive roots, is actually for their benefit because since the tree is intrinsically strong. Even when it is transplanted elsewhere, it still has the power to grow and flourish. Likewise even when the Tzaddikim are "transplanted" into a life of suffering, it can still be turned to their advantage even though we cannot know how this is so because of the limitations of human understanding. Vv 20: Bildad's inference from this received wisdom of the early generations is that if Job is truly pure and innocent, God will not reject him and eventually the tables will be turned on his adversaries. JOB CHAPTER 9 In his speech in the previous chapter, Bildad, like Eliphaz before him, had argued that everything is under God's direct providence and that if the wicked enjoy goodness, it will turn out to be to their detriment, while the evil that befalls the righteous will turn out to be for their good. In answering Bildad in this and the following chapter, Job's main complaint is that he is pure and righteous and that suffering has come upon him despite his innocence. Job agrees with Bildad that God cuts off the wicked, but argues that the righteous also do not escape from His hand and that He deals in the same way with the pure and with the wicked. V 2: ".but how should a man be just before God?" - Metzudas David explains: "My entire complaint is: What kind of reward is this if a person acts justly before God and goes in His ways yet is also left to the government of the heavenly system of stars and planets and suffers the same fate of the wicked?" V 3: But if the righteous man wants to argue with God over the loss of his reward, God will not even answer one out of a thousand of his questions. V 4: God is wise to perfection and supremely powerful, and it is therefore impossible for a lowly mortal to argue against Him. Vv 5-10 evoke the supreme power of God. He makes earthquakes (vv 5-6) and nobody really knows why they are sent. "He commands the sun and it does not rise" (v 7) - "The darkening of the sun through God's decree is a metaphor for the destruction of one empire and the rise of another" (Ramban). God's wondrous ways are beyond the comprehension of the human mind. V 11: "Even though He is constantly passing before me and the whole world is full of His glory, I cannot see Him and even though He passes before me I am unable to understand his form or likeness" (Metzudas David). V 12: He can snatch away a man with great power and speed and nobody can challenge Him and ask why He does this. Vv 13-15: Even the celestial angels could not come to the help of proud Egypt (=Rahab). How much less so can a weak human like Job challenge God. Metzudas David notes that at times Job asserts that he does want to argue with God, while at other times he says he is unable to argue with Him: this is the way of a person who is wracked with pain and one time says one thing and another time something else. V 16: "If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that he had listened to my voice" - Job is saying that it seems so inconceivable to him that God would listen to him that even if it happened, he would not believe it. Job could not believe that everything he was suffering was under God's detailed providence, as he goes on to explain: V 17: "For he crushes me with a storm and multiplies my wounds without cause." If a storm wind comes, it causes suffering to all and does not discriminate between the righteous and the wicked - Job felt that all his suffering was for nothing. V 19: "If the suffering that he has brought upon me is because of His great power and might, I know that He is all-powerful and nothing is held back from Him. But if my suffering has been sent through the attribute of justice, if only someone would appoint a day when we can come together to judge and determine who is in the right" (Metzudas David). Vv 20-21: Job holds resolutely that he is innocent, but feels unable to stand up to God and assert his innocence because in his human weakness and lowliness he will never be able to make his point. V 22: "Therefore I said, It is all one: he destroys the innocent and the wicked." This is Job's argument against Bildad, who said that the suffering of the righteous is for their good, which is not so in the case of the wicked. Job asserts that suffering afflicts the righteous and the wicked equally and does not discriminate between them. The "scourge" (Heb. SHOT) that strikes suddenly and laughs at the innocent (v 23) is the SATan (Rashi). V 24: "The earth is given into the hands of the wicked. He covers the face of its judges. If this is not so, who will get up and deny it?" - "As long as the wicked man lives, the earth is his to do has he desires, to rob and oppress, and because of his great power, even the judges of the earth hide their eyes from him so as not to look upon his deeds" (Metzudas David). Vv 25-31: Job is haunted by the speed with which his life is slipping away. He is convinced that even if he holds his peace and stops complaining about his unjust suffering, God will still not send him relief, because even if he were to repent and chastise himself to cleanse himself of any sin, God will still send him down to the grave and never restore him to his former self. If he cries out and tries to justify himself, he will still come out as if a wicked man, while if he remains silent he will gain nothing. "Woe to me if I speak, and woe to me if I don't" (Ramban). Vv 32ff: Job yearns for an impartial arbitrator before whom he can argue against God without feeling fear of God's overweening power and might. CHAPTER 10 One cannot but admire Job's unflinching boldness in refusing to accept his companions' view that he must have sinned and insisting on his own innocence. Only Job himself knew what was truly in his heart and whether or not he had sinned. For this reason, whenever he wants to press the question of why the righteous suffer, he complains about his own suffering rather than about that of anyone else, because he could never know from the outside if that other person was truly righteous or not (see Ramban on Job 9:25). V 2: "I say to God, Do not condemn me, let me know for what reason You are contending with me" - Job is complaining that although he is righteous, he is suffering in the same way as the wicked deserve to suffer. This is why he wants God to explain to him the reason for his own suffering in order not to equated with the wicked. V 3: Why does God oppress the righteous - the work of His hands - yet gives success to the wicked? V 4: Surely God sees into the heart of each one - if so why does He treat the righteous no differently from the wicked? V 9: God formed Job like a potter makes a vessel out of clay: why does He now want to return him to the dust? Vv 10ff: After having formed Job's body so wondrously, why is He now destroying him? V 15: "If I am wicked, woe is me, and if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head." Job again emphasizes that he sees no difference between the fate of the wicked and that of the righteous. Vv 16ff: Again Job wishes that he had never been born or that he had died at birth and gone straight to the grave instead of having his present life of futile suffering. JOB CHAPTER 11 The third of Job's companions, Tzophar the Na'amatite, now answers him. Ramban (on Job 11:2) explains that "Tzophar's intention was to give support to the argument of his companions that Job had sinned and this was why all this evil had come upon him. The new idea that he introduces is that some of God's deeds are revealed while some are concealed. For God overlooks the sins of the wicked and although He sees their evil, He does not at first pay attention in case they will repent. All this is because of His mercy over His works. If He benefits the wicked and shows them mercy, how much more so will He not harm the righteous. The only reason why suffering has come upon Job is to prompt him to direct his heart to repentance and to stretch out his hands to God in prayer, and in the end he will attain tranquility. For the tranquility of the wicked turns into calamity in the end if they do not repent. Thus Job's problem over the cases of the wicked people who enjoy a good life turns into a proof of God's mercy over His creations - for He does not reject the work of His hands. All the more so will He not harm the righteous." Vv 5-6: But oh that God would speak. and He would tell you the secrets of wisdom, for wisdom is manifold!" The Hebrew phrase for "wisdom is manifold" is KIPHLAYIM (="there is double.") LE-TOOSHIYAH (=".to wisdom"). The Hebrew word TOOSHIYAH is from the root YESH, "it exists", because God's wisdom is forever and never returns to nothingness in the way everything else does (Metzudas Tzion). In the words of Ramban (on v 6), "All that visibly exists in the world is double and contains both revealed wisdom and hidden wisdom. That is to say, God's Providence over the creations is good both on the revealed and concealed level." Tzophar tells Job that God has exacted less of a payment for his iniquity than is warranted, and this is proof that He will not exact any more than is warranted. Vv 7-10: God's wisdom is unfathomable and nobody can call Him to account for what He does. V 11: God sees men's iniquity and if He appears to pay no attention, it is because He shows patience in case they will repent (see Rashi). V 12: Even an empty, foolish man can gain himself a heart and subject himself self-reckoning and return to his Creator. Man starts life as a wild ass's colt, but he has the power to teach himself to be a new man and follow a good path (see Rashi, Metzudas David). Vv 20: If Job will come to his senses and distance himself from any sins he may have committed, his suffering will pass and he will have a good end. CHAPTER 12 Job's answer to Tzophar occupies the whole of Chapters 12-14. Job's opening words can be construed as if he is denigrating his companions for thinking that they alone have wisdom. However Ramban prefers to interpret that Job shows respect for his companions, who were the choicest sages of their generation and could fittingly be called a "nation" since other people were animals compared to them. Nevertheless, Job protests that he is no less than them, and he also knows that God is exalted and concealed from the understanding of His creations, who cannot fathom His ways (Ramban on Job 12:2-3). Job complains that he has become a laughing stock to his friends, who maintain that he must have been wicked when in fact he knows he is innocent. Vv 5ff: Job suggests that his friends, smugly satisfied with their own success, show contempt for him because he has stumbled. He implies that as they sit back, unscathed and complacent, they are like the wicked who enjoy tranquility and prosperity. Vv 7ff: "But ask now the beasts and they shall teach you." Tzophar and his companions had spoken as if they had a monopoly of wisdom, but Job retorts that the unfathomable depth of God's wisdom can be inferred by all from the animals, birds and fish of the sea in all their manifold variety. V 11: "Does not the ear try words as the palate tastes food." Many things can be understood from experience or through reason. V 12: "With aged men is wisdom." Through many years of experience men can become wise: wisdom is not exclusively in the hands of Job's companions. Vv 14ff: Job is no less aware than Tzophar of the paradoxical nature of God's ways. These beautiful verses in which Job depicts how the high and mighty are brought down and the wise are shown to be ignorant serves as an introduction to the next part of Job's answer to Tzophar, which comes in the following chapters, because he wants to break out of simple explanations and conventional categories in seeking an answer to his question about why the innocent suffer.